my view is there is no fiscal cliff or debt cliff. there is a political cliff and he wants to push the republicans off. the debate is how much do republicans will surrender and then get blamed by their party or how much they won't surrender and get blamed for a recession. i have to say for president obama as bad as it looks it may be a winning hand. >> he's certainly playing the hand of someone who as he said in his press conference won the election. there is no compromise here. i think there is a fiscal cliff and there is a political cliff. the president has the upper hand. taxes go up in the way his base want on wealthy people and what he wants to do is say if you don't go along with me you republicans are responsible for raising taxes on the middle class and will be responsible for the recession that's almost certain to come. >> there is no serious debating over avoiding the fiscal cliff. it's a political fight. this is a democratic party that hasn't passed a budget in years. the press corps is on the same page. everyone is asking